1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an immobilzer coil such as that used in automotive applications and more specifically to a coil immobilizer arrangement/fabrication technique that facilitates manufacture of the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, coil antenna for devices such as automotive anti-theft immobilizer devices have been wound in situ on a molded body which forms part of the vehicle interior and then encased by an overmolding process. Connection pins are connected to the ends of the coil either before or after the overmolding process and are press-fitted into a plastic housing to establish an electrical connection with a PCB (printed circuit board) which is suitably arranged with the plastic housing. However, this process is very time consuming and the molds/apparatus which are used to make the molded body and remold it after the coil has been disposed in position, are very expensive, highly specialized pieces of equipment. In fact, this equipment tends to be so expensive that the manufacture of such devices, at least as far as the molding and remolding is concerned, frequently requires outsourcing to companies that specialize in the process. This increases both the direct and indirect costs of each unit. In addition, the act of inserting the pins into position can provide stress on the PCB which over time can lead to problems which attenuate the working life of the device.